Our first stop was in San Gimignano. We ran into a wedding and had to stop and take some photos of the bride and groom coming out of the church and getting riced. We also were told to go the world famous gelato stand. Pretty good gelato in many different flavors. The town itself was very nice with so many views I cannot even begin to post them all in this blog.

After that we headed to Volterra. This had some recognition as it was the city named in the recent vampire series. Although they did not shoot the movie here, there were still many teen-aged girls running around looking for their own vampire. The real attraction was the alabaster carvings. Very nice but we did not purchase any. The real attraction for me was not the city, but the region. Vineyards all around and a hilly countryside.

OK — I slipped one in of the car as well. It was a very nice country drive.

Finally we went to Colle di Val d’Elsa. This is not a tourist town, just a very nice relaxing place. We had a recommendation for dinner and we did actually find the place around 3:30, but the place did not open until 7:30 so 4 hours of wasting time was in order. We managed to waste a couple of hours drinking beer in a quiet little sidewalk café and then we walked around the town.

We met this lady in a pottery store:

She agreed to make us some pottery for the Camano Island house. We also found the dish she is holding and a set of salt/pepper/oil and vinegar holders for the table — sitting on the desk in front of her. She was very friendly and we communicated well even though she spoke very little English.

We looked at some other art as well:

I really liked the Pinocchio (notice Jimminey Cricket on his nose) but the store was closed by that time — this is why the pictures through glass.

OK — what a day — Dinner was great — I over did it, but a steak Florentine and a nice Chianti really are a fine way to end a Tuscan night. There is something magic in the truffles. I really have to look into that.